Newfoundland poet Michael McCarthy arrives in the west of Ireland in 1968 to study the rocks of the Burren, the perfect place for quiet reflection. But Michael soon becomes preoccupied with a young and beautiful local woman, Cathleen O'Connor. Cathleen's passions are aroused by the new man but she has long since chosen the path of religion. Michael's persistence collides with the townspeople's hostility towards a foreigner's attempt to impede the path of purity, and Cathleen must choose whether to give her life to a man or to God.